Politi: A day in court for Bobby Gonzalez may be trial by fire for everyone

Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerBobby Gonzalez has a chance to smear the Seton Hall program if his case goes to court.

Your honor, we have reached a verdict in the matter of Bobby Gonzalez vs. Seton Hall University. We have found in favor of . . . mutually assured destruction!

This is a case neither side can win, and one that neither should want to reach a courtroom. Oh sure, one could win in the legal sense of that word — and, since most sane people know it isn’t wise to direct obscenity-laced tirades at a boss, put your money on Seton Hall.

Talking to a superior like this is unacceptable in any context, and certainly cause for the school to fire him. And don’t think this is the only episode like this that the school knows about, either.

Still, the best-case scenario for the school is for Gonzalez to take an assistant coaching job in the Turkish Basketball League and never speak of his four years in South Orange again. That involves the university opening its wallet and settling this case, the sooner the better.

If this thing goes to court, Gonzalez gets a chance to sit on the witness stand and trash the reputation of the school one last time. The Seton Hall administration, despite its compelling countersuit filed Tuesday, doesn’t come out of this mess looking all that rosy, either.

The coach did not hire himself, and his reputation was certainly no secret in basketball circles. He did not extend his own contract, which was done with full knowledge of his unstable behavior. And he did not get his troubled players admitted into the school.

“I want to emphasize: Every one of those kids that I brought in, I’m not the admissions director,” he told The Star-Ledger last week. “I’m not the administration. They were very well aware of all of their backgrounds. They admitted every one of them.”

Seton Hall might win. But is the victory — and the money saved in the contract — worth giving Gonzalez a day in the courtroom to paint the picture of a dysfunctional athletic department?

And to do it as new coach Kevin Willard hits the recruiting trail and tries to clean up its image?

None of this excuses Gonzalez’s behavior, of course. From nearly the moment he became coach four years ago, he treated employees and the media with a stunning lack of respect and class.

His erratic behavior continues even when speaking can do him no good. His interview with reporter Brendan Prunty was stunning for several reasons, but most of all, because he was the one who requested it. I had just assumed his first conversation with his lawyer went like this:

Lawyer: As your counsel, I strongly advise that you to never speak to the media ever again.

Gonzo: But ...

Lawyer: Shhhhhh!

The interview was typical Gonzo, a loose cannon firing in every direction. Somehow, in answering a question about why he thinks he’ll coach again, he provides the perfect example of why he probably won’t, at least not in a high-profile job in a big conference.

“If you look around the country — and I’m certainly not going to name any names of coaches or schools — but there’s been guys right now currently (coaching) that have had sex scandals,” he said. “There have been guys that have had DWIs that are coaching. There have been guys that have had major NCAA violations that are coaching.”

In case you were wondering, those unnamed coaches are Louisville’s Rick Pitino, his successor Kevin Willard and embattled UConn legend Jim Calhoun. But, predictably, it was Sheeran, Hobbs and athletic director Joe Quinlan who took the most shots from the former coach.

It is hard to imagine what university would hire Gonzalez now, but it’ll be even harder if he takes this case to the courtroom. No athletic director wants to hire a coach who might cause a problem like that.

There is a reason most cases like this settle long before that — see Rutgers vs. Fred Hill Jr. for proof of that. Somebody might win. But everyone gets a black eye in the process.

Steve Politi appears regularly in The Star-Ledger. He may be reached at spoliti@starledger.com, or follow him at Twitter.com/NJ_StevePoliti.